Course Overview
With the broadcast sector shifting increasing towards smaller production companies, understanding how to manage a TV production effectively, and within budget, can be key to survival for many businesses.
Understanding Production Management provides core business skills for those currently working professionally in video production; providing short-run, flexible training for Production Managers that easily fits around your working life.
Attend the module, and we'll provide you with an industry-level knowledge and understanding of production management, and how it fits within both the wider production process and team dynamics.
Production Managers play a key role in any TV production; charged with bringing productions in on budget, on time and safely (all with a smile on their face!). This module ensures you're up to speed with best practice in production management, whilst building your interpersonal and management skills.
This module is brought to you by the Birmingham School of Media - one of the foremost media schools within the UK, and is designed and taught by leading industry experts.
Entry Requirements
This is a standalone module aimed at media professionals, in particular those working freelance or within a small production company. To be eligible for the course, you will require:
- An undergraduate degree
- Work experience in a relevant industry (min 2 years).
Understanding Production Management will appeal to those who have already worked as part of a production team, and want to explore the role of the production manager as a possible next step in their career path. It would also be suitable for production and technical professionals who require an understanding of the role and its associated knowledge and skills, and production managers in small, independent companies.
Participants are expected to have completed a Production Safety Passport course (or equivalent) prior to taking this module.
This stand-alone module provides 20 academic credits towards Skillset’s UK-wide Build Your Own MA programme – which allows you to build up academic credits towards a MA Professional Media Practice at participating Skillset Media Academies around the UK.
Course Structure
Understanding Production Management will be taught as two day-long training sessions, followed by distance learning online and two assignments (see Assessment below).
During the face to face training sessions you will explore a specific area of interest with a range of like-minded professionals aided by input from academics and industry guest lecturers (see Tutors).
Your supported online study will consist of participating in a variety of online exercises, forums and projects.
Here's a quick break-down of what we cover on the course. If you have any questions whatsoever, please use the enquiry link at the top of this page:
Overview:
- Production Team structure
- The responsibilities of a Production Manager within the team
- How the Production Manager links to the rest of the production team
- How the Production Manager links to the Production Company
- Creative problem solving
- Negotiation – how to achieve the best deal (and keep your suppliers and team happy!)
Genres:
- Similarities and differences between the genres – documentary, factual, factual entertainment, reality, structured reality and entertainment
- Range of skills and experiences needed for each genre
Programme Development:
- Role of Production Manager in programme development
- Introduction to Broadcaster tariffs
- Working with a producer to prepare a realistic and workable budget and schedule for the new programme idea
- Broadcaster Terms of Trade
- Negotiating a production agreement – budget and rights
- Rights Exploitation
Budgets:
- What does being ‘on budget’ mean? Producer vs. production company view
- What’s in a programme budget?
- Managing a programme budget on a day to day basis
- Moving money around the budget
- Importance of keeping up to date with spend
- Cost control – systems and procedures to keep abreast of expenditure
- Cost report – method of keeping up to date with spend on a production
- Communication with the producer, production company and accountant on status of project via cost report
- Cashflow – invoicing Broadcaster (customer) for services and management of cash flow to ensure production does not run out of cash
Schedules:
- Understanding the Golden rules of scheduling
- Ensuring schedule is realistic and deliverable
- Managing changes in schedule at short notice
- Analysing and acting on consequences of changes in schedule to remainder of production schedule
- Making sure it is presentable and understandable by the rest of the team!
- Logistics – getting the team to the right place at the right time without breaking the bank. Importance of forward planning. Changes cost money!
Health & Safety and Risk Management:
- Responsibilities of the Production Manager
- The law
- Risk Management - Identifying areas of risk, talent, foreign filming (hostile environments)
- Risk Assessments – ensuring risk is minimised as best as possible whilst maintaining integrity of programme.
- Managing expensive ideas (CGI, natural history)
- Working with children & animals
Interpersonal Skills:
- Managing a team in the production office and on location
- Employment law and production staff contracts (PAYE or Schedule D) and implications both financial and legal on the production
- Assessing performance and dealing with poor performance and misconduct
- Identifying and managing talent
- Introduction to difficult conversations
Post production:
- Understanding the workflow in post production – bottlenecks and constraints
- Planning a realistic and affordable post production schedule
- Keeping the edit suite busy
- Delivery of programmes to Broadcaster and importance of post production paperwork
Copyright Material
- Release forms – contributor, location and large gatherings (e.g. filming in a nightclub)
- What is limited rights material? (Archive, photos, literature, works of art, music etc.)
- Who is responsible for clearing rights and getting release forms signed
- What rights need to be cleared for the production
- Legal responsibilities of clearing material and consequences of not clearing
Assessment
Portfolio Assessment (70%)
Students will develop, plan and implement a production management project from a ‘live’ client/commissioner brief, equivalent to 4,000 words.
Reflective Critical Evaluation of the process (30%)
Equivalent to 1,000 words
Tutors
Hilary Jones
Hilary is currently Production Manager for BBC Birmingham and has over 20 years professional experience, most recently Countryfile.
Alison Grade
Alison has over 10 years working in media production. Alison still produces short films, while running her own business working as a business advisor and mentor to businesses in the creative industries, as well as lecturing on entrepreneurship, marketing and media production.
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